Kaixian Jin, Dean of the College of Adult Education at Qingdao University (left) stops for a photo with Daryl Campbell, Shoreline Community College Vice President for Administrative Services, and Diana Sampson, Shoreline's executive Director of International Education, on Monday, July 30, 2012. More photos

Shoreline Community College is working with a major Chinese university to bring students to the U.S. and possibly much more.

A delegation from Qingdao University visited Shoreline’s campus Monday, July 30, 2012, to put the final pieces of the agreement in place prior to a formal signing scheduled for this fall in China.

“We are honored and excited to be working with a university of such stature in China,” said Diana Sampson, Shoreline’s Executive Director of International Education.

The core of the agreement is a “1 +1 +2” plan. After their first year at Qingdao University, Chinese students can come to Shoreline for their second year toward a two-year associate’s degree from Shoreline. With a Shoreline degree in hand, those students could then be eligible for transfer to a four-year university in the U.S. The Qingdao students will also have the option of staying longer at Shoreline to work on English language skills.

“International students are focused on getting a university degree,” Sampson said. “Here at Shoreline, we do a very good job of preparing both international and domestic students to transfer to a university.”

The University of Washington is the top transfer destination for Shoreline students.

During discussions on Monday, Kaixian Jin, Dean of the College of Adult Education at Qingdao University, said he has already been recruiting students to come to Shoreline for the program. Jin also suggested that Shoreline create a branch campus at Qingdao.

“The American community college system is not well-understood by Chinese students and their parents,” Jin said through an interpreter. “It would be helpful for Shoreline to have a continued presence on the Qingdao campus.”

Other members of the Qingdao delegation included Liyuan Yu, Director of Administrative Services; Jason Xu, recruiting agent, and Yiqun (Angela) Jiang, interpreter.

Daryl Campbell, Vice President of Administrative Services, told the Chinese visitors that Shoreline also wants to expand areas of cooperation beyond the 1 +1 + 2 model. “Shoreline is very interested in discussing additional ways to grow the partnership,” Campbell said. Other options, including sharing faculty between the two schools and shorter term language programs both here and in China, were discussed.

The agreement has been in the works for nearly a year. Sampson and Shoreline President Lee Lambert were in Qingdao in March where a letter of intent was signed. Monday’s meeting in Shoreline was to finalize details before the formal agreement is signed in October on the Qingdao campus.

The agreement is an example of an overall campus internationalization initiative put in place by Lambert.

“The lives of our students are increasingly impacted by what goes on around the world,” Lambert has said. “We must help our students better understand that world and give them skills that allow them to successfully compete in that world.”

In 1993, Qingdao University was formed by combining three existing universities in Qingdao. The combined university includes 26 schools and colleges and a graduate school. Courses are offered in 11 main academic disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, literature, history, natural sciences, engineering, management, medicine, education and military. The university serves a total of about 95,000 students, including 41,000 full-time students, 11,000 postgraduate students and more than 1,000 international students.

Located in Shandong Province, Qingdao is a coastal city about 300 miles southeast of Beijing and hosted the sailing events during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in China. According to 2010 numbers, the greater Qingdao area has about 8.7 million residents, about 2 million more than in the entire state of Washington.

SCC/Jim Hills

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